Syllabic Writing and Syllable Structure - Linguisticsgene/papers/syllabaries.pdfJapanese kana as...
Transcript of Syllabic Writing and Syllable Structure - Linguisticsgene/papers/syllabaries.pdfJapanese kana as...
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Syllabic Writing andSyllable Structure
Eugene BuckleyUniversity of Pennsylvania
SUNY at Stony Brook — 21 April 2006
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“written language is a product oflinguistic awareness” (Aronoff 1985)
Writing Systems andLinguistic Structure
• Reflects the categories present in spokenlanguage– segment, syllable, word, etc.
• Embodies a theory of language– though also affected by cultural history
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Traditional Typology of Writing
• Ideographic– not truly linguistic; semasiographic
• Logographic– most often “morphographic”
• Syllabic– or is it moraic?
• Alphabetic– segments, potentially just consonants
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Moraic or Syllabic?“In addition to the syllable and thesegment, writing systems exist that makeuse of the constituents mora and rhyme,and the notion head.”
“[Pure] syllabaries are exceedingly rare.”
Poser (1992)
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Moraic or Syllabic?“After all, it is not really the syllable, butrather the light syllable which recurs as aunit of representation in one script typeafter another.”
Ratcliffe (2001)
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Against the Moraic Analysis
•CV systems may include non-moraicelements
•CV systems may fail to write allmoraic elements
•CV is not a moraic constituent•CV is really just a minimal syllable
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CV as a constituent
The mora-linked onset
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Moras in Syllable Structure
Are they Or are theyconstituents? weight units?
σ
µ µ
t a n
σ
µ µ
t a n
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Constituency of CVIf onset links to head mora:
[ [ ta ]µ [ n ]µ ]σ
If onset links directly to syllable:
[ t [ a ]µ [ n ]µ ]σ
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Other Constituencies
t [ a ]µ [ a ]µ [ n ]µ
t [ a ]µ [ an ]µ
[ tr [ a ]µ ]σ
[ t [ a ]µ ]σ
[ ta ]µ [ a ]µ [ n ]µ
[ ta ]µ [ an ]µ CV:C
[ [ tra ]µ ]σCCV
[ [ ta ]µ ]σCV
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Japanese kana
The ultimate moraic example
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Japanese kana as moraic“Although the kana scripts are often calledsyllabaries, they are in fact moraicsystems. Each symbol in the kana scriptsrepresents one mora. Most of these are CVsequences, but final /N/ or /Q/ count asseparate morae, and vowel length adds amora.”
Rogers (2005)
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Basic signs in kanaNumber of signs = number of moras
• (C)V, the core syllables• N, the “moraic nasal”• vowel length
– special sign in katakana– use second V sign in hiragana
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Mora matches in hiragana
さむらい おかあさん<sa-mu-ra-i> <o-ka-a-sa-N>[sa]µ [mu]µ [rai]µµ [o]µ [kā]µµ [san]µµ
samurai okāsan“warrior” “mother”
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Mora matches in katakana
ネクタイ ジーンズ<ne-ku-ta-i> <zi-L-N-zu>[ne]µ [ku]µ [tai]µµ [jīn]µµµ [zu]µ
nekutai jīnzu“necktie” “jeans”
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Derived signs in kanaGemination using “Q”• small version of /tu/ = [tsɯ]• here, sign = mora
Complex onset in [CyV]• <Ci> plus small version of <yV>• here, sign ≠ mora• similar for some borrowed sequences
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Mora matches in hiragana
しき しっき<si-ki> <si-Q-ki>[ši]µ [ki]µ [šik]µµ [ki]µ
šiki šikki“command” “lacquerware”
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Mora matches in katakana
ロケット ヨーロッパ<ro-ke-Q-to> <yo-L-ro-Q-pa>[ro]µ [ket]µµ [to]µ [yō]µµ [rop]µµ [pa]µ
roketto yōroppa“rocket” “Europe”
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Mora mismatches in hiragana
ちょっと じゅみょう<ti-yo-Q-to> <zi-yu-mi-yo-u>[čot]µµ [to]µ [ju]µ [myō]µµ
čotto jumyō“a little” “life span”
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Mora mismatches in katakana
キャッシュ ファミコン<ki-ya-Q-si-yu> <hu-a-mi-ko-N>[kyaš]µµ [šu]µ [fa]µ [mi]µ [kon]µµ
kyaššu fami kon“cash” “video game”
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Interim Summary 1
• Japanese graphs write CV, whichusually corresponds to a mora.
• But parallel techniques are used towrite non-moraic differences.
• Other examples:– Linear B “onset splitting”– Mongolian ‘Phags-pa codas
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Ethiopic Alphasyllabary
A systematic syllabary
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Ethiopic Alphasyllabary
ä u i a e (ɨ) oh ሀ ሁ ሂ ሃ ሄ ህ ሆl ለ ሉ ሊ ላ ሌ ል ሎḥ ሐ ሑ ሒ ሓ ሔ ሕ ሖm መ ሙ ሚ ማ ሜ ም ሞ
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Ethiopic Alphasyllabary
ä u i a e (ɨ) oʔ አ ኡ ኢ ኣ ኤ እ ኦb በ ቡ ቢ ባ ቤ ብ ቦg ገ ጉ ጊ ጋ ጌ ግ ጎd ደ ዱ ዲ ዳ ዴ ድ ዶ
ʔa bu ɡi da
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Minimal words in TigrinyaOne heavy syllable: Two light syllables:
bun ‘coffee’ lomi ‘today’
σ
µ µ
b u n l o m i
σ
µ
σ
µ
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Minimal words in Tigrinya
bu-n = ቡን lo-mi = ሎሢ
σ
µ µ
b u n l o m i
σ
µ
σ
µ
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One sign per mora?
ሰልሚ ሰላም ሳሊማsälmi sälam salima‘muddy soil’ ‘peace’ ‘lightning source’
σ
µ µ
s ä l
σ
µ
m i
σ
µ
s ä
σ
µ
s a
σ
µ
l i
σ
µ
m a
σ
µ µ
l a m
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Gemination in Tigrinya
ʔabo ‘oleander’ ʔabbo ‘father’
σ
µ µ
ʔ a b
σ
µ
o
σ
µ
σ
µ
ʔ a b o
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Gemination in Tigrinya
ʔabo = ኣቦ ʔabbo = ኣቦ
σ
µ µ
ʔ a b
σ
µ
o
σ
µ
σ
µ
ʔ a b o
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Sign ≠ Mora
ኣቦ ʔa-bo ʔabo ‘oleander’ ʔabbo ‘father’
not ኣብቦ ʔa-b-bo
በለመ sä-lä-mä sälämä ‘be calm’ sällämä ‘adorn’
not ሰልለመ sä-l-lä-mä
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Sign ≠ Mora
ይሰብሩyɨ-sʌ-b-ru yɨ.sʌb.ru ‘they break’
ይስበሩyɨ-sɨ-bʌ-ru yɨ.sɨb.bʌ.ru ‘they are broken’
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Interim Summary 2
• Tigrinya writes CV, a supposedmora, and coda consonants.
• But omits gemination, which isexactly a mora.
• Other examples:– Cypriot– Akkadian (optional)
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Against CV as a mora
Phonological considerations
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Moras as Headed Constituents
Both moras and syllables impose minimal sonoritythreshold on their heads; syllabic ≥ moraic.
Zec (1988, 1995)
Berber Serbian Kwakwalavowel vowel σ vowelliquid σ liquid liquidnasal nasal μ nasal
σ,μ obstruent μ obstruent obstruent
But ultimately this is orthogonal to onset linking.
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Moraic licensingBella Coola obstruent clusters often not insyllables, which are rather simple CRV:C.
σ
µ µ
l a kk
µ
t
µ
cBagemihl (1991)
‘ten’
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Bella Coola reduplication
‘do too much’yaɬ-yaɬk→[ yaɬ ] k
‘wink’p-ɬa-ɬa→p [ ɬa ]
‘tree bark’pɬt-kn -kn-ɬp→pɬt [ kn ]
‘to taste’qps-ta-ta→qps [ ta ]
‘mother’s-tan-tan-mts→s [ tan ]
‘bear-berry’mil-milixʷ-ɬp→[ mi ] [ lixʷ ]
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Bella Coola reduplicationBagemihl: copying begins at the first syllable
σ
µ
t a
µ
p
µ
s
µ
q
µ
k
σ
µ µ
y a ɬ
σ
µ µ
y a ɬ
σ
µ
t a
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Alternative syllabificationFricatives can head syllables, and stray consonants aremoraless “semisyllables”.
Cho and King (2003)
σ
µ
t ap
µ
sq
σ
µ
t a
σς
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Unmarked ReduplicantsThe Emergence of the Unmarked (TETU) in Optimality Theoryprevents copying of fricative-headed syllables: *Peak/Obstruent >> Align-Prefix
Carlson (1997)
σ
µ
t ap
µ
sq
σ
µ
t a
σς σ
µ
t ap
µ
sq
σ
µ
p s
σς
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Branching moras affect timing
/ʕi.nab.hum/ /ki.taa.bi/ /ki.taab.hum/‘their grape’ ‘my book’ ‘their book’
σ
µ µ
a b
σ
µ µ
a b
examples from Levantine Arabic
σ
µ µ
a
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Arabic consonant durations
Vµ Cµ Vµ VCµ
Jordanian 88.4 ms 67.6 msSyrian 114.4 80.9Lebanese 81.2 66.9
Broselow, Huffman, Chen, and Hsieh (1995)Broselow, Chen, and Huffman (1997)
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Arabic long-vowel durations
Vµ Vµ Vµ VCµ
Jordanian 161.0 ms 131.6 msSyrian 123.9 112.2Lebanese 114.2 97.8
Broselow, Huffman, Chen, and Hsieh (1995)Broselow, Chen, and Huffman (1997)
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Crosslinguistic V durations
Vµ VµVCµ VµVµ
Arabic 1 1.6 1.9Malayalam 1 1.6 2.2Runyambo 1 1.4 2.2
Broselow, Chen, and Huffman (1997)Hubbard (1994, 1995)
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Onset/RhymeZhùyīn fúhào or bōpōmōfō : onset (+ glide) + rhyme
<d-ai>ㄉㄞ/daj/
<b-ai>ㄅㄞ/baj/
ㄅㄧㄠㄅㄥㄉㄠ
<b-enɡ>/bəŋ/
<d-au>/daw/
<b-i-au>/bjaw/
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Onset/Rhyme in SyllablesPoser includes onset/rhyme systems in his typology, but it’snot clear if this is consistent with his moraic representations.
σ
µ µ
t a n
σ
µ µ
t a n
morasdefinerhyme
morasstraddleonset/rhyme
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Interim Summary 3
• The evidence for CV as a moraicconstituent mora is not persuasive.
• The overall consensus in the field isfor onsets linked directly to thesyllable node.
• The “moraic writing system” analysisis not available.
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CV as a syllable
An efficient corewith supplementation
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Core syllables
• Every language has CV syllables• Some also have V syllables• (C)V is the minimal syllable
– “core”– “universal”– “maximally unmarked”
• Cf. Onset, NoCoda, *Complex
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“Core”, not “Light”Tagalog recent perfective:
ka-ta-trabaho ‘work’ka-bo-bloaut ‘give special treat’
If relevant notion were light syllable, wouldexpect CCV instead.
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Japanese syllables
Basic (C)V with five deviations:• Coda N• Coda C as part of geminate• Long vowel• Complex onset• Novel CV in borrowings
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Supplemented Japanese syllables
+ small kanano new moranovel CV
+ small kanano new moraCyV
+ kana+ moraCVV
+ small kana+ moraCVC
+ kana+ moraCVN
WrittenSpoken
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Japanese kana and moras
• By the nature of Japanese phonology,nearly every deviation from CV yields anew mora.
• But CyV and borrowed CV sequences arealso written with two kana.
• No good correlation between addition ofkana and addition of mora.
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Mycenaean and Linear B• Core CV as in typical syllabary.• Complex onsets written with echo vowel.
– though not /s/ before a stop
• Codas not written.– cf. special case of final /ks/ and sonority
• No indication of vowel or consonant length.– except /w/ as second half of diphthong
• Small number of “optional” signs.
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Unwritten Segments in Linear B
‘seed’<pe-ma>/spér.ma/
‘town’<wa-tu>/wás.tu/
‘around’<a-pi>/am.pʰí/
‘chief’<qa-si-re-u>/gʷa.si.léws/
‘shepherd’<po-me>/poj.mēn/
‘bronze’<ka-ko>/kʰal.kós/
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Onset Clusters in Linear B
‘sheepfold’<ta-to-mo>/sta.tʰmós/
‘Knossos’<ko-no-so>/knōs.sós/
‘tripod’<ti-ri-po>/trí.pos/
‘of lands’<ko-to-na-o>/ktoj.nā.hōn/
‘leaɡue’<a-to-mo>/ar.tʰmós/
‘with bands’<de-so-mo>/de.smõjs/
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Final “Onset” Clusters
‘axles’<a-ko-so-ne>/á.kso.nes/
‘Ethiopian’<ai-ti-jo-qo>/aj.tʰí.okʷs/
‘king’<wa-na-ka>/wá.naks/
‘two swords’<qi-si-pe-e>/kʷsí.pʰe.he/
‘spear points’<ai-ka-sa-ma>/aj.ksmáns/
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Supplemented Linear B syllables
+ sign+ moraCVks
+ sign+ moraCVw
+ signno new moraCCV
no sign+ moraCV: , CVj
no sign+ moraCVC
WrittenSpoken
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Linear B signs and moras• By the nature of Greek phonology, only some
deviations from CV yield a new mora.• The scribal practice largely ignored coda
consonants and other moraic elements, but didwrite clusters with non-falling sonority.– salience of onset due to C in CV ?
• Terrible correlation between addition of signand addition of mora.
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Complex syllables in Cypriot
‘seed’<se-pe-re-ma>/spér.ma/
‘for’<ka-re>/gár/
‘man’<a-to-ro-po-se>/án.tʰrō.pos/
‘tablet’<ta-la-to-ne>/dál.ton/
‘for Perseutas’<pe-re-se-u-ta-i>/per.séw.tāj/
Similar to Linear B (and related to it), but writes most codaconsonants with an echo vowel or dummy <e> word-finally.
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Supplemented Cypriot syllables
no sign+ moraCVCi.Ci
+ sign+ moraCVV
+ signno new moraCCV
no sign+ moraCV:
+ sign+ moraCVC
WrittenSpoken
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Cypriot signs and moras• The essential CV system hasn’t changed.• Still deviates from a “moraic” system:
• Nonwriting of long vowels and geminates.• Writing of onset clusters.
• Supplementary strategies have simplybecome more plentiful.
• No useful correlation between addition ofsign and addition of mora.
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Intentional minimality in Maya
‘house’tana<ta>
‘fish’kay<ka>
‘tree sap’pom<po>
‘net’paw<pa>
For signs whose origin is known with some confidence, wecan observe truncation of the morphographic value to CV.
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Complex syllables in Maya
‘acquire shape’<pa-ta>/pat/‘coati’<či-ku>/čihk/
‘bird’<mu-ti>/mūt/
‘bone’<ba-ki>/bāk/
‘play ball’<pi-tsi>/pits/
‘dog’<tsu-lu>/tsul/
Writes coda consonants with a “synharmonic” vowel — or ifdisharmonic, indicates a complex vowel with length or /h/.
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Supplemented Maya syllables
+ mora?CVhC+ sign CVk
+ moraCV:C
+ sign CVino new mora?CVC
WrittenSpoken
The extra signs serve not to mark moraic information, butrather to partly indicate linguistically important distinctions:a coda consonant, and vowel length or /h/.
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Syllabic signs in AkkadianBasic
VCVVCCVC
Combined
CV-V = CV:CV-VC = CVCCV-V-VC = CV:C
All vowels and consonants are written, but vowellength and gemination are often omitted.
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Complex syllables in Akkadian
‘selections’<liq-ti>/liq.tī/
‘clever’<nak-la>/nak.la/
‘pertains’<ba-aš-mu>/baš.mu/
‘whatever’<ma-la>/ma.la/
‘tablets’<ṭup-pa-a-ni>/ṭup.pā.ni/
‘I checked’<as-niq>/as.niq/
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Akkadian moraicity/ra.bîm/ ‘of the big one’
<ra-bi-im><ra-bi-i-im>
/i.kaš.šas.si/ ‘defeats her’
<i-ka-ša-si><i-ka-aš-ša-si><i-ka-ša-as-si><i-ka-aš-ša-as-si>
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Supplemented Akkadian syllables
1 in CV1 moraCV
1 in CVC2 in CV-VC3 in CV-V-VC
3 moras (?)CV:C
1 in CV2 in CV-V2 morasCV:
1 in CVC2 in CV-VC2 morasCVC
GraphsMoras
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Akkadian mappings• Every sign is a possible syllable.• Combinations of signs extend the
system:– CV-VC for convenience or by necessity– CV-V for greater explicitness
• Priority to write every segment; moraicdistinctions secondary.– relevance of segments to all languages, even
if written with a syllabary
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Korean syllable blocksAlphabetic han’gŭl defines “syllable” on a partlymorphological basis.
닭이 값을<talk-i> <kaps-ŭl>[tal.gi] [kap.sŭl]
‘chicken (SUBJ)’ ‘price (OBJ)’
Similar abstraction from surface syllabificationoccurs in syllabaries.
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The notion “syllabary”
Poser (1992):“each syllable is represented by adistinct graph.”
Sproat (2000):“ought to imply that every syllableof the language has a graphemicsymbol associated with it.”
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The notion “alphabet”
Poser (1992):“each segment is represented by adistinct graph.”
Sproat (2000):“symbols available to representevery phonemic segment of thelanguage.”
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Alphabets in practiceIdeally, every segment has a graph.
[p] → p[i] → e
But in many cases, digraphs or otherstrategies are used to represent certainsegments.
[č] → ch[ŋ] → nɡ
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Syllabaries in practiceIdeally, every syllable has a graph.
[ta] → た[ko] → こ
But in many cases, digraphs or otherstrategies are used to represent manysyllables.
[tan] → たん[kyo] → きょ
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Efficiency in Japanese
46Kana(with diacritics = 25 more)
276Syllables(CVX, some CV excluded)
20Phonemes(14 C, 5 V, plus N)
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Practical implementation• An alphabet can reasonably reach full
coverage of the segments.– but of course often doesn’t
• A syllabary must be much larger to coverall the possible syllables of a language.– so this situation is rarely achieved
• Yi, perhaps Chinese– for simple reasons of scale, not because the
syllable isn’t really the relevant unit
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Implications
Adapted from Poser (1992)
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1. Correspondence betweenWriting and Speech
“Writing systems make use of essentiallythe same constituents that phonologistsdo.”
Yes; but this set of constituents does notinclude the mora.
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2. Phonological Constituency
“Their role in writing systems providesadditional support for the syllable, mora,segment, and rhyme.”
Well, not the mora.
And we have to remember that writingsystems are the products of culturalhistory, not pure reflections of language.
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3. Alleged Atomicity of the Syllable
“The extreme rarity of syllabaries togetherwith the evidence for subsyllabic analysis ...eviscerates the arguments for thepsychological atomicity of the syllable thathave been based on the putativepredominance of syllabaries.”
This conclusion remains true, even ifsyllabaries are common; that constituent issalient and important, but not atomic.
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Thanks!
Gene BuckleyDept of Linguistics619 Williams HallUniversity of PennsylvaniaPhiladelphia, PA 19104-6305